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Joyce is back from her Spring Break-induced hiatus. Yay! Hope you feel rested, Joyce! Welcome back! I’m just going to jump right into the questions without any further adieu!

1. Share one fun thing you did last week, while the Hodgepodge was on ‘spring break.’

I know this will seem bad, but I don’t remember what I did last week, other than work, work, work! I did get all of this week’s lesson plans finished by 2am Saturday, leaving the weekend a bit stress free. Lame, I know, but that’s my idea of fun these days.

2. April 10th is National Sibling Day…do you have siblings, and if so are you close? Share a favorite story featuring one or all of your siblings. If you don’t have siblings, did you ever wish you did?

I do have a sibling…Super Sis…and she’s every bit as fabulous as her moniker implies. She is three years younger than me, and we are close. She’s a strong Christian woman who lives out the faith she professes. She’s as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

So…a favorite story of us…hmmm…

It’s hard to pick one. When I think about our growing up years, I remember taking care of her…taking her out on the town for “Sister Day.” This would be a day in the summer when we’d get up, drive to a bigger Podunk City an hour away, and I’d treat her to donut holes and goodies such as a new pair of shoes or some other splurge.

I love having a sister who I can call when I’m having a bad day, and she’ll fill in the blanks when I’m too upset to talk.

I like that one of us can be talking about a favorite product, and the other person will have an “Aha” moment and say, “Me too!”

Most of all, I am thankful that I have her because she is the only person who knows exactly what makes my heart tick…where some of my intense insecurities stem from…after watching what I had to deal with growing up and into adulthood.

I love her to pieces.

3. Is it important to you to ‘buy American’? Why or why not? How much of an effort do you make to ‘buy American’? If you’re not American, insert your own country in the blank.

I think it is important to support local businesses that sell American-made products. I can’t say I go out of my way to buy American, nor do I boycott foreign-made products, but if given the choice, I will buy American.

4. Besides The Bible, what book has impacted your spirituality in some way?

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. Corrie ten Boom’s book The Hiding Place greatly impacted my life when I read it when I was younger. Her faith, in action, in the most difficult of times, has continued to inspire me. When I compare my life’s circumstances, I don’t feel justified in complaining much. The thing that Corrie did was to look for God’s hand in each circumstance she faced.

She is the first person, after Jesus, who I want to see when I go to heaven. I want her grandmotherly arms around me, and I want her to be proud of the way I lived my life.

5. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Do you find rainy days calming or depressing? When were you last caught in a rainstorm? What’s blooming in your neck of the woods today?

I love rainy days…more so when I’m able to enjoy them from inside my home and don’t have to mess up my hair. The sound of the rain hitting the roof is very soothing.

Things that are blooming are my rose bushes. My grass is turning greener and greener thanks to the expert care of the lawn service I hired last July.

6. What’s your favorite yellow food?

Can you believe that I actually had to google “yellow fruit”? Seriously. My brain is fried.

My favorite yellow food is pineapple. Oh the sweet yumminess!!

7. April is National Poetry Month…what’s a poem that holds special meaning for you, and why is it special?

My mind drew a complete blank when I read this question!

Until I thought about a poem that my students and I analyzed last week…

The Man In The Glass

Peter “Dale” Winbrow Sr

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in you life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum
And think you’re a wonderful guy.
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

He’s the fellow to please-never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

I love this poem because it reminds me that accolades may only serve to delude me into thinking I’m better than I really am. What counts most, according to the poem, is being able to live with myself at the end of the day.

I’d go even further by saying that what really matters is being judged by God as worthy. My own opinion about myself might still be skewed.

Holding myself up to God’s measuring stick is the ONLY way to live a life that is satisfactory in the end.

8. My Random Thought

Our fight to keep Aubie going is proving difficult of late.

She’ll have a couple of good days followed by a few bad days.

We’re at a low point right now, and we are so disheartened.

Please continue praying for us. She doesn’t want to give up on life, but then again, she’s looking more and more tired.

We continue to hold out hope, yet we know that things are looking very bleak.

We are constantly praying for your Aubie… So glad that you are giving her the life she still is hanging onto… I know so many who put their animals down so instantly & think of all these good days she’s had lately… though they may be fewer, at least she’s enjoyed them with the people & dogs that love her 🙂